Seasonal produce, cooking demonstrations, recipe ideas plus FREE admission – all make the perfect ingredients for the 17th annual Bannau Brycheiniog Food Festival being held on Saturday 4th October from 10am – 5pm.
With local producers, growers, award winning chefs and food retailers firmly at its heart, it is now widely regarded as the darling little sister to the now world famous Abergavenny Food Festival – offering the most outstanding Welsh produce to be found in the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park.
Held in the Brecon Market Hall and surrounding streets, Saturday 4th October is expected to draw in huge crowds of people eager to taste the local delights all produced and farmed in the landscape of Bannau Brycheiniog National Park. In fact, we can pretty much guarantee that the produce has travelled less distance than the visitors who come to enjoy them.
A feast of delights will be on offer from 70 exhibitors including 19 newcomers eager to market their game, venison, Salt Marsh Lamb, bread, pancakes, pasta, curries, chocolate, jams, honey, fish, home grown vegetables, cider, beer, spirits and much much more. You can even get in early and start thinking about what to cook for Christmas dinner!
There will also be a host of live cooking demonstrations from local celebrity chefs nerys Howells, Tony Price (The Coach House Hotel), Colin Grey, Steven Williams (Buckland Hall) and Karl Cheetham (Gliffaes Hotel), not to mention the battle to become overall winner of out of BBC’s Derek Brockway and Sue Charles. Back again this year, is the local school competition for Young Chef of the Year (open for under 10s) – sponsored by St Nicholas House, Christ College. There will also be lots of singing and local entertainment throughout the day with performances from Welsh Opera Eisteddfod Star and Winner Jennifer Parry, Builth Ladies Choir and Aberhonddu Male Choir.
With loads of places to sit and enjoy the demonstrations, listen to the various choirs surrounded by lots of delicious food and drink, Bannau Brycheiniog Food Festival is the perfect day out for everyone – from those who are passionate about their food to the happy taste tester, families and day trippers.
“This year we match previous years with 70 Welsh food and drink producers booked to attend. The growth over the last 14 years provides a strong indication of the success the Bannau Brycheiniog Food Festival brings to exhibitors taking part. To organise and be a part of the Bannau Brycheiniog Food Festival is a wonderful experience and I’d like to thank all the stall holders, farmers and local suppliers who have loyally supported this food festival and are putting in an incredible amount of effort into how they produce their food. The atmosphere, the smell of home cooking and inevitably seeing so many happy families stocking up their shopping bags with local food is nothing short of amazing.” says Food Festival organiser and Catering Manager for Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority and organiser of the event, Andrew Powell.
Cllr Geraint Hopkins, Chairman of Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority said: “I attend this festival every year singing with the Aberhonddu Mail Choir, and this year is no different. This festival is a calendar highlight for locals and visitors so whether you’re a buyer, producer or seller – if you’re passionate about local food then visiting us on this weekend is an absolute must. It’s the perfect celebration to welcome autumn and the harvest season and we are so proud to support all those who make this event so special in the food calendar.”
As well as funding support from the Welsh Government and Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority, the Food Festival has also been kindly supported by Christ College, who is sponsoring the Young Chef of the Year competition, The Brecon & Radnor Express, National Farmers Mutual, Castell Howell Foods, Celtic Pride, Brecon Carreg, The Felinfach Griffin which is part of the Eat Drink Sleep Group and The Castle of Brecon Hotel.
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